AIBU to be annoyed by this work policy

[NeedACleverNN]

My dh works at a factory that have recently changed their policies

He was rushed to hospital on Tuesday with viral meningitis. Got released weds and told to take painkillers and rest.

He insisted on going back on Friday despite not feeling 100% because of his work policy.

He has received a notice of improvement because he was absent. This means that if he is absent in the next 3 months, he will get a written warning. If he is absent in thr next 6 months after that, it's another warning. Absent in that year you're sacked.

Even a bloke who is in dialysis waiting for a kidney transplant has had a record of improvement because he is taking absence.

Ridiculous. You can't help being sick.

I understand that some people take the piss but seriously? This is nuts

[Emmaroos]

Horrifies me in this day and age an employer can sack people for being ill.
Isn't that what social welfare is for? And savings? And serious illness insurance? We were always taught 'you work you eat'. Most small employers couldn't afford to pay someone indefinitely when they are ill. Also, most employers aren't stupid. Valuable, reliable staff who have a couple of very genuine one-off illnesses (for which they add documentation to their file) will not be fired even if the automatic process is triggered.

[Only1scoop]

Sounds like the Bradford factor....

They used this in my company to scare monger during redundancy.

Awful time

[Wolpertinger]

We have a similar policy (NHS) it's the Bradford factor - except you don't end up being sacked.

The key is that all incidences are treated the same - the idea is the penalize people who just want a duvet day.

So your DH would have been better taking as long as he needed as once he was off it was an episode however long it was and then coming back when he was better.

It's terribly unfair in general but especially on people with conditions that give them short episodes of sickness like migraine - I ended up with Bradford score of 84 and Occ Health basically told HR to fuck off for me so I was really lucky. Plus I'm in a role that need and they can't recruit to if they got rid of me. Not everyone will have that support.

[Buddahbelly]

I hate these work policies, dp was forced to sign one that said if he lost a partner or child he would only be entitled to 1 week off work. He refused to sign it and left shortly after!

FWIW I Had viral meningitis a couple of years ago, started on monday morning and by weds I was admitted to hospital on a drip, finally allowed home on the friday evening. It took me quite a while to feel normal again, even taking ds to the park 10 mins from our house i had to call a cab home as I physically couldn't walk it from being so tired. He needs to be resting completely for a few weeks a least!

[millymae]

I find this so far from my experience that it almost beggars belief. A relative of mine (who works for a major supermarket ) has recently had time of work with ill health all supported by a doctors note and there has been nothing at all like this that has gone on. Similarly my OH who works for the NHS.

I agree 100% that employers shouldn't be expected to carry and pay employees that take days off sick at the drop of a hat, but equally the way the OP's OH has been treated for having the misfortune to contract an illness that resulted in him being hospitalised is draconian. God forbid that he should have the misfortune to have anything else genuinely wrong with him in the next 12 months

I sorry Emmaroos but your idea that the welfare state will provide support is so far wide of the mark that it makes me wonder whether you live on planet earth. You virtually have to be moribund nowadays before you will get any help, and even then it's not guaranteed. As to savings - an awful lot of people don't earn enough to have any and when you are managing on a low wage serious illness cover is not high up on the list of priorities.

[mummytime]

This is not standard is should not be!
When my husband had viral meningitis he was off work for 2-3 weeks, and his US employer wondered if he was pushing him back too soon. Admittedly he physically couldn't have gone back to work after a week, he barely made it into Town for a coffee and we had to get a taxi back (10 minutes from home).
DH was working for a financial institution at the time.

Why aren't people complaining more/joining unions if their employers treat them like this?

[Enkopkaffetak]

Similar set up at my work however a great deal of leeway and understanding.

A person with cancer will not have questions asked if they have periods of sickness

We currently have a person off due to a relative with serious illness again this will not tricker for them.

Last year we had one very good worker who went through a period of tonsillitis resulted in them being off 4 times in a 3 month period. Again no one will fire them due to this. Its unfortunate but doesn't negate that usually they are a great worker who does well.

One person was recently diagnosed with diabetes so again more sickness is accepted until this gets under control.

However the person who decided they felt like 4 duvet days over a short period of time was spoken too

The person who took several sickness days and then posted photos on facebook from a beach was spoken too.

Etc etc When used correctly and with sensitivity this can be a great way of dealing with "sickness".

[mrsclooneytoyou]

The local council I worked for had this policy. It was basically put in place to stop people taking the piss with short term sick

[Wolpertinger]

Enkopkaffetak's workplace is demonstrating how Bradford factor should be used in practice.

After much fuss, I now have all incidences of migraine excluded from my Bradford factor scoring and it works very well. also new management came in and noticed current staff were demoralised and although sickness had improved there was a recruitment problem as they couldn't replace the skilled people they were getting rid of

OP's workplace and many others haven't understood it and clearly don't care their business has massive staff turnover and are bastards. Bradford score is not the be all and end all of sickness management but because it's easy to do, lots of people who can't be bothered to do proper HR and Occ Health have implemented it as such.

[trafalgargal]

If I was ill I had the habit of trying to get back to work as soon as I could, sometimes if it was too soon I'd be back for one day then back off the next. My employer told me they appreciated me making the effort. Then they changed the rules and the same incidence triggers two absence periods and their consequences....so now I don't even bother to come back til I'm 100% better and my company understand why. Cutting of nose to spite face is stupid when a policy like this is completely inflexible.

[idsisatwat]

I work for a large government department, and their sickness policy is very similar.

[Longlost10]

He was rushed to hospital on Tuesday with viral meningitis. Got released weds and told to take painkillers and rest. This is very very very mild for viral meningitis. I'm not saying it isn't true, but it might be that his work place is skeptical, in my experience viral meningitis normally leads to months off, and a year or more to fully recover from.

[FeliciaJollygoodfellow]

That sounds standard to me.

If you have anymore than X instances of sickness over X period of time then you may be put on an improvement plan. If patterns emerge then warnings etc will happen.

It's intended to make sure those taking the piss can be managed effectively. It pisses off those that don't, but what can they do? The managers will have discretion which is why your DHs boss said his hands were tied.

If a person isn't on long term sick and they hit patterns like the guy on dialysis they'll use their discretion, and like pp have said nothing will happen bar the paperwork.

This is the practice put in place by unions btw.

[Wolpertinger]

Discharging people home the following day is pretty normal for a lot of viral meningitis - the treatment is rest and if you think you can manage the headache at home, the hospital will want you to go home.

What you do when you get home is very very variable - OP's DH has clearly only gone to work because he was terrified and I susepct will regret it later.

[Lemonlady22]

i think this is policy in all uk work places now....and they have to follow the procedure for ALL employees for it to be fair....if you have a genuine long standing illness you will eventually be seen by a doctor on your works behalf....this isnt as bad as it seems and can be quite good for you in the long run IF YOU ARE GENUINELY ILL.....i think this policy has stopped all the people who take a day off here and there because 'they dont feel like work today' .

[SquinkiesRule]

I'm in the NHS and this sounds similar to our policy. Three separate sicknesses off in a year and you get all kinds of flack and have to go 12 months with no absence to clear your record.

[catgirl1976]

That policy could be in breach of DDA if reasonable adjustments are not made. Not much help to your DH but anyway. Yes it's heavy handed and unreasonable.